Did you know? The nursery rhyme "La Pêche des moules" was born on the island of Oléron.

Although Jacques Martin popularized it in 1975 in "Le Petit Rapporteur", the song originated in Charente-Maritime with a completely different tune and other lyrics.

We've all sung it at least once, that catchy tune, "À la pêche aux moules, moules, moules." These words, which we know by heart, are not the original song. The nursery rhyme, which ultimately ceased to be one when it was adapted by Jacques Martin in 1975, was popularized in the TV show "Le Petit Rapporteur." At the time, this cover, which implicitly denounced sexual harassment, even rape, was not at all to the taste of those who defend the folklore of the island of Oléron. Because it was here, in the ^19th century, that "La Pêche DES moules," and not "AUX moules," found its origins.

In Grand-Village-Plage, in their Maison Paysanne, the few members of the Déjhouqués (1), a folk group from the island of Oléron, are still fuming against this Jacques Martin who, according to them, has distorted the song. A "massacre" in both form and content. The tune is different, the lyrics modified. Imagine, the passage "the people of Marennes" was transformed by the famous presenter into "people of the city".

A blast from Oléron culture for those who still defend the traditions of yesteryear. "There were indeed bouchots in Saint-Trojan-les-Bains and Boyardville," recalls Jean-Pierre Chauvin, standard-bearer of the Déjhouqués. It is danced and sung with pavane or grand ball steps, a fairly simple choreography, where the couple hold hands, raise their arms, move forward and backward.

At each "performance," and not "concert" as they insist on specifying, the Déjhouqués perform "La Pêche des moules." "And, in the presentation, we say that ours is the real one!" In the last century, "the inhabitants of the island of Oléron gathered shellfish only for food," adds Jean-Pierre Chauvin. "They were very simple people, who got up early to go to the fields." Hence the name of their group, Déjhouqués, which is a reference to those who leave their homes at sunrise.

In the presentation, we say that ours is the real one!

There isn't a performance by the group of enthusiasts without "La Pêche des moules" being played, like any other hit. "For the audience, it's a familiar refrain," adds Claudette Brothier. It's important to remember the lyrics of the original song: "I don't want to go mussel fishing, mom/The boys from Marennes took my basket, mom/The girls are faithful like gold and silver, mom/The boys are fickle like the rain and the wind, mom/Ah! Ah! When they hold you, those pretty children, mom/They give you caresses and compliments, mom."

It must be said that, although he is not very popular on the island, Jacques Martin has helped make the nursery rhyme famous, but without giving back to Oléron what belongs to Oléron. Could the Déjhouqués sing the revised version one day? "Never in my life."

(1) The Déjhouqués are organizing their traditional festival on Friday, September 5th, at the Maison Paysanne in Grand-Village-Plage. Folk dancing, eglades, food and drinks from 5 p.m. Free entry.